Knowing
by Amarin Rose
Summary: Pairing: Joey–Seto Summary: Seto will never know how Joey really feels about him...or will he?


**Knowing**

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_You'll never know how much I love you – because I never plan to tell you. You think I'm a stupid mutt, and maybe you're right – you're a complete jerk, but I still love you. The faithfulness of the canine companion._

Snorting inwardly, Joey glanced through his bangs to see the object of his writing – and secret desires – typing away at his laptop across the library. _Seto probably doesn't even know I'm here,_ he thought, a pang of sadness rippling through him. He sighed inaudibly, and, shaking off his melancholy depression, went back to writing in his journal. It was a stupid, cliché idea, but he was writing a letter to Seto – one he'd never send, of course – about how he felt about him. Hopefully, it would help him deal with his feelings for the CEO. But he wasn't going to hold his breath.

_I do wonder, sometimes, what it is you see in me, though. I mean, you fight with me all the time – why? You always end up winning, and I thought you liked a challenge. I'm sure if you argued with Yami, half the time you'd lose…_

_Of course, that might be why you fight with me – so you always win. That's not actually as depressing as it could be. I mean, to me it says that you get tired of fighting to be the best all the time and occasionally just want to take a break. Of course, it is disconcerting that your 'breaks' consist of fighting with me…_

_You'll never know the only real reason that I fight with you is to be near you. I'm not as stupid as you think I am – the first half-dozen arguments we got into were enough for me to see I'd never win one. And though I may be stubborn, my pride wasn't enough to keep me trying. No, it was you. You, with your soft brown hair and those icy blue eyes…and that **body**, man…_

Thinking about it prompted him to cast another look in Seto's direction, just to refresh his memory of the other boy's looks. He'd learned the lines of Seto's body by heart, but there was nothing like being able to observe the real thing. His face fell when he saw that sometime in the past few minutes, Kaiba had apparently left the building; there was no sign of him. Sighing in regret at the missed opportunity to ogle his crush, Joey picked up his pen again.

_That's what I noticed first, you know. How beautiful you were. Tall, lean like a fighter, strong…your skin glowing with an inner light, looking like some sort of burnished statue._

_And now I sound like one of those giggly schoolgirls that follow you around all the time, trying to get you to ask them out. But you never do. Half the school is convinced you're gay, you know, because you don't date. How I wish that were true; then I **might** have a chance. But if I find most of the girls at our school intolerable, I can only imagine what **you** think of them._

_So here I stay, keeping quiet about my feelings and loving you from afar; picking fights with you so I can be near you, see that glint of challenge in your eyes as you're totally focused on only me._

_How I wish I could tell you. But even a stupid mutt such as myself knows how completely idiotic that would be._

"Not so idiotic, puppy," a low voice whispered in his ear, causing Joey to drop the book he'd been writing in and whirl around.

"S-Seto?" he stammered, only realizing he'd called the other boy by his first name after the damning word had left his lips.

"Yes, me, Joey," Kaiba confirmed, a small smirk playing about his lips.

Joey just stared at him for a minute, slack-jawed, an expression of horrified surprise pasted on his face.

Seto's own expression faltered, but marshaling his courage, he said, "And I feel the same way."

"W-What?" Joey squeaked. Blushing, he cleared his throat and asked again, "You mean you…"

"I love you, too, Joey Wheeler," Seto stated in a soft, strained voice. There was a tense set to his shoulders as he waited for Joey's next words.

A smile lit up Joey's face like the sun dawning on a new day. "Y-you do?"

Seto dipped his head in a nod, gaze fixed on Joey's face.

Joey looked into those eyes – those frosty blue eyes, ice over banked embers that could cause a raging inferno in his blood with just one heated glance – and froze. He wasn't scared, but he couldn't move. He could see so much in Seto's eyes: love, hope, happiness, anxiety…fear.

And then suddenly he could move; he **was** moving. He rose from his seat on one of those uncomfortable wooden library chairs so they were of a similar height again – though Kaiba would probably always be at least three inches taller than him – and, reaching out, he wrapped his hand around Kaiba's unresisting wrist to pull him closer, until they were only inches apart. He looked into Seto's eyes again, seeing the stunned surprise there, and, even though it made him feel like a girl, he wrapped his arms around Seto's neck as he pulled the other boy in for a kiss.

It was…different…than he'd imagined it. For one thing, he'd always thought that if he ever gave into his stupidity and actually **did** kiss Kaiba, he'd at least be confident about it, try to get as much contact in as possible before he was pushed away; but his sensual assault on Seto's lips was almost tentative, slow so he could savor the taste and feel of this longed-for caress. Also, he'd thought that if Kaiba were actually a willing participant in this kiss, he'd try and dominate him; control the kiss. But Seto seemed as unsure as he himself did. Their lips moved hesitantly against each other; neither demanding more nor shying away from it. It was…sweet…made all the more sweet because Joey knew it was something they both wanted.

Finally, they pulled apart and looked at each other; their faces flushed, their lips swollen, their expressions questioning. After a few moments Joey managed to get enough breath – and brainpower – to speak. "We're gonna have ta talk about you invading mah privacy like dat," Joey reprimanded Kaiba, a small smirk on his lips. "I gotta have **some** secrets, or our relationship'll lose all its mystery."

Seto just blinked at him for a moment, uncomprehending – and most likely thrown by the seeming non sequitur – before clearing his throat and saying dryly, "I promise never to read over your shoulder again…"

Joey nodded in appreciation.

"…as long as you don't keep anything important from me," Seto finished seriously.

Joey smiled slightly and nodded again. He was silent for a minute, judging the situation, before he said, "I meant every word, ya know. Dat I wrote."

A sharp intake of breath was all he received for an answer. That and a pleased pink tint to Seto's face. Leaning in towards that delightfully flushed visage, Joey whispered, "I'm really glad ya know dat now," before sealing their lips together in another kiss.

After all, they had a lot of time to make up for. The details could be worked out later; right now, they were going to **live** their lives.

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THE END


End file.
